Propensity to participate in a peer‐to‐peer social‐network‐based carpooling system

Abstract

SummaryThis study examines the potential for a social network peer‐to‐peer‐based carpooling system called FacePorter for the University of Calgary staff and students. In this study, a survey that combined both revealed and stated preferences was designed and distributed randomly among students and staff. The survey consisted of a sample of 210 responses, which were divided into two groups of stated preference respondents: (i) auto drivers, who were given the choice between driving alone and carpooling as drivers; and (ii) transit riders, who were given the choice between public transport and carpooling as passengers. A binomial logit model and two ordinal logit models (one for ride offerors and one for ride seekers) were calibrated to examine the impacts of various examined socio‐economic, psychological, and travel characteristic variables on the propensity to participate in the hypothetical carpooling program. The results of the models clearly demonstrated that many factors have significant impacts on FacePorter demand: occupation, income, marital status, working schedule flexibility, trip characteristics (i.e., distance, travel time, and number of required transfers when riding transit), weather condition, carpooling fee, perceived rider and driver profiles, and carpooling fee would significantly influence the market demand of the examined carpooling system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.